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MANUAL.DOC
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1994-07-23
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M.D. PEARLS v3.1
Solotech Medical Software
Copyright (c) 1993, 1994 by William Hogg M.D.
INTRODUCTION
M.D. Pearls helps to provide rapid access to the meaning of
over 10,000 medical abbreviations and acronyms. In addition,
hundreds of computer-related abbreviations and acronyms are
included, covering the topics of General Computing, Network
and LAN terminology, and the Internet.
Designed by a Board-Certified Specialist in Internal
Medicine, this program is first of all an aid to those
struggling through "Med-Speak" to figure out the real
meaning of the sentence that uses the abbreviation.
Whether a patient, medical records clerk, insurance employee,
transcriptionist, or legal assistant to a lawyer that
handles Medical Malpractice or Personal Injury, M.D. Pearls
can make your chores of interpreting medical writing much
easier. Medical students and Nursing students will also find
many an occasion to use M.D. Pearls for those difficult-to-
interpret orders from your instructor, and specialty-texts
that favor the abbreviations and acronyms of their
particular specialty.
Even practicing doctors and nurses find medical
abbreviations mystifying at times. As medical practitioners
plough through weekly medical journals, time is short and
valuable. There often is not enough time to go back to some
other point in the article to look up the meaning of some
newly-coined abbreviation. Instead the physician or nurse
moves on to the next important article, having to be
satisfied with an incomplete understanding of the preceding
study.
Medical journals bring the top research articles to
practitioners around the world. However, the significance of
the work is often obscured because of the lack of
understanding that anyone outside his or her area of
research is confused by the abbreviations and acronyms
encountered. It is not uncommon to have 4 or 5 abbreviations
or acronyms in the same sentence, without even identifying
what these stand for.
WHAT "M.D. PEARLS" DOES
M.D. Pearls allows an individual to access the meaning of
abbreviations and acronyms by entering the desired term to be
defined. The program searches rapidly and the specified term
is quickly highlighted. This database has been compiled
from actual medical journals, medical textbooks, conferences,
and lecture notes so that its relevance to the user would be
maximized. Each day of medical practice, I encounter new
examples of acronyms and abbreviations. These are usually
jotted down in a notebook to be added to the database later
in the day, ensuring that the database is current and always
growing.
Computer terms are from trade magazines and journals, particularly
PC Magazine (R), Wired (R), InfoWorld(R), Byte Magazine (R), and
Dr. Dobb's Journal (R), C Users's Journal (R), and Boardwatch(R),
emphasizing the last 6 months' issues.
SHAREWARE CONCEPTS
This program is distributed as Shareware. The shareware
method of distribution allows you to evaluate a program
prior to purchasing it. The M.D. Pearls program is not free
and it is not in the public domain. It is a copyrighted
product that is protected by U.S. Copyright Law. First time
users of M.D. Pearls are granted a license to use the
program on a trial basis, without cost or obligation, for
the sole purpose of determining whether or not it meets
their needs. Any and all other use after a trial period of
30 days requires registration to obtain a license for
continued use. Non-registered use of M.D. Pearls beyond the
trial period is strictly prohibited.
LIMITED WARRANTY
SoloTech Medical Software and William E. Hogg make no
warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without
limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness
for a particular purpose. SoloTech Medical Software shall
not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect,
special or consequential arising from the use of, or
inability to use this program by any user. In no event will
SoloTech Medical Software be liable to you for any damages,
including lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or
consequential damages arising out of your use or inability
to use the program, or any claim by any other party, even if
it has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
RESTRICTIONS ON USE
M.D. Pearls has useful potential for any individual except
those attempting to use this to assist in actual patient
care. No abbreviation or acronym in this database holds
itself out to be the sole and correct interpretation of a
specific abbreviation or acronym you may see when working in
health care. Abbreviations and Acronyms are dangerous and
use of these in medical practice leads to confusion and
ultimately to patient harm. There is only one source that
you may safely rely on and that is the author of the
abbreviation or acronym in question. He/She should be
contacted in person and the text clarified in person and he
should initial and date the correction/explanation of the
abbreviation or acronym that he used. William E. Hogg M.D.
and SoloTech will assume no liability for use of this
database in patient care or matters related to patient care.
William E. Hogg M.D. and SoloTech Medical Software
specifically restrict the use of this program to serving as
a substantial aid in reviewing medical literature and
interpreting it. IN NO INSTANCE shall the program be used as
part of the care, planning, or decision-making process
involved in patient care.
PROGRAM OPERATION
Using M.D. Pearls is mostly intuitive. Use the [F1] key to
reach the Help menu or click the mouse over the Help button
in the upper right corner.
Use the mouse to move the mouse cursor around the screen and
use the left mouse button to click and select the desired
object or action. A mouse is not mandatory, but is extremely
helpful.
In place of a mouse, you may use the [TAB] key to move the
cursor or highlighted bar to different buttons or fields.
Pressing the [Enter] key indicates your selection.
The arrow keys will often move you quickly through buttons
and lists. If you get "stuck", as inside a field, you can
use the [TAB] key once again to jump between fields and
buttons.
Entering your search term is very easy. Use the mouse to
select the "Find" button. A dialog box will appear asking
you to enter the abbreviation or acronym you are searching
for. You may enter this term without regard to which page
you are on at the time. No matter which letter your term
starts with, you may enter it from any page in the program.
The "Find" function will search the appropriate alphabetic
listing, and take you to the proper page and highlight your
search term when found.
Note that you can use the arrow keys or the mouse clicking
on the scroll bars to manually search the list corresponding
to your search term, moving up and down the list as you
desire.
Once you press "Find", the program takes a few moments to
scan the listings and then will highlight your search term
in the list. If your highlighted search term does not seem
to show the meaning you expected, there could be more than
one meaning for the term you entered. Scan the adjacent
entries and check to see if one of the other meanings fits
the context of your search term.
If your term is not present at all, a message will appear
that indicates that your search term was not found. You can
try again, using variations of your term. For instance, you
can try using the singular form of the term instead of the
plural, or try the term search again without a hyphen.
HARDWARE/SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The following are the system requirements for using M.D. Pearls:
* Personal computer: IBM PC, PC-XT, PC-AT, IBM PS/2, Compaq,
or 100% compatible system; 386 or 486 recommended.
* Drives: Two 5.25", 360K floppy drives; or at least one 3.5",
720K floppy drive; or a hard disk and at least one floppy drive
(hard disk recommended).
* Memory: 470K of available memory
* Display and display adapters: Any color or monochrome display
or adapter
* Operating system: DOS 3.3 or later; DOS 5.0 or 6.2 recommended.
* Mouse: Microsoft Mouse or 100% compatible recommended.
* Printer (optional): HP LaserJet series, IBM Graphics Printer,
IBM Proprinter, IBM Color Printer, Toshiba P351, Epson FX/MX/LQ,
Okidata 92/93, Okidata 192/193, Panasonic KX-P4450, Canon LPB-8,
NEC Pinwriter P6/P7, DEC LA-50, or any printer capable of
emulating one of the preceding printers.
*********************************************************************
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
M.D. Pearls v3.1
Copyright (c) 1993, 1994 by William Hogg M.D.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This program was designed with a licensed version
of HyperPad 2.2A, by Brightbill-Roberts & Co.
William Hogg M.D. is Board-Certified in Internal
Medicine and works in a non-profit clinic that
serves the homeless and uninsured, made possible
by private donors and the United Way.